Self Destruction
by berryban
Summary: Miles, and miles of Konoha have been incinerated. Ino has nowhere to go, but Shikamaru offers to give her a place to stay. -Previously titled Run-
1. Intro

After destruction and chaos, some could find relief in times of peace. Some could also find relief in terror, or no peace at all. But others could find even more panic in moments of harmony.

There are some walking down streets and among the seas of people hiding their grief and anger beneath a mask of joy. But only one among the rest would be able to see and know for sure that they'd have it masked. The only one, who would know the entire story of grief with only one flash of the eye or only one tear rolling before becoming dry, is the only one as well.

If all else would fail, only one would be left, which would be equal to all, and more.

* * *

**I'M BACK. **

**Yes, I've been out of touch, or reach if you'd like. Sigh. I'm starting to love ShikaIno a lot now. But don't fret, I haven't given up on my SasuIno story! I have most of it written, but I've just been so busy with school to type it up! And I've also discovered Dragonball Z fandom of VB (Vegeta/Bulma) **

**Yeah, this one'll take like another week to update... so, review and don't give up on me! I luff you all! **

**:wuff: **


	2. Rescuer

Only the survivors had been injured. Those who had become deceased least hurt and were helping others. Fear struck all of the villagers, but positively knew that the village's number one knucklehead, then they knew to expect the best results.

Buildings, businesses, shops and homes—oh homes—were demolished. The only thing belonging to Konoha was the Hokage Mountain and an enormous gaping hole in the land, and in their hearts. It would take years to reconstruct _this_ mess. Even Orochimaru's attack hadn't been this bad. The only thing that survived were the people, miraculously.

What would've been more plausible? Evening the ground out, or constructing in the hole? This was a ninja's job. The on and off captain of Team 7 would be very handy. Also would the fire and water style ninja.

The thing that stuck most of the villagers were homes. There wasn't anywhere they could go, relax or stay. All that'd be left was sleeping outside in tents somewhere.

The lucky people and clans who's homes weren't destroyed were the Hyuuga clan, the Inuzuka clan, the Aburame clan, the Akimichi clan and the Nara clan. Everyone else had no shelter or anything. The rest of the ordinary villagers and lesser bloodline ninjas were out of luck. Although countless amounts of people with no place to go, many of the very kind clansmen had invited their friends to stay in their homes for the time being. The homeless had to fend for themselves while accomplishing other tasks that needed to be done.

There was no safe place, nor was there any comfy bed awaiting to be occupied. All that was there was the hard ground.

_Oh God damnit…_ The sky eyed kunoichi thought. She stepped over the remnants of the block her family's shop once occupied. "I can't believe this," she said to herself. "Everything's _gone."_

She looked off into the distance—the empty distance that is. Nothing was there, and nothing would _be _there for a long time.

Ino walked from the shop's previous space. She kneeled down and clenched the dirt with tears in her eyes. It sifted through, leaving a small stone. She sighed and stood there, being reminded of the memories she now wished she'd cherished longer. Nothing was there, and nothing would be the same.

She took a longing look at the space with a broken hearted smile. She met up with the two members of her squad.

"Hey Ino, where'd you go," her heavy set friend asked.

"Oh, the flower shop. Or what's left of it anyways, which is nothing. I hate going over there."

"Well, we'll build a bigger and even _better_ flower shop for you then!" Chouji said optimistically with a big grin on his chubby face.

Ino smiled back. "Thanks Chouji."

It was silent for a while as the three of them watched the villagers scurry about with planks of wood and several tools.

"Hey Ino, where are you going to live now? Your house is gone." He asked concerning his blonde friend. Shikamaru looked over as if shaken himself.

"Well, I don't know. I guess I'll manage somehow. Maybe I'll just live outside or something." She answered wondering herself. She no longer had her nice home, soft inviting bed or any of her cosmetics, accessories or hair care. _This is going to suck, and it's going to suck _hard.

"Hey Ino, Shikamaru, I have to go. My father wanted me to help him with something. Something about meat. Bye, good luck Ino." Chouji waved and disappeared.

The lazy man looked at the beautiful blonde girl, his eyes glazing over her sunshine hair and porcelain skin. "Shikamaru, your house is still intact, right?" She looked into the narrow brown eyes of her teammate. Such curiosity in her eyes made it hard to look away. She was already difficult to look away from as it is; her features were stunning.

"Yeah. How come?" He responded blasé as a stick.

"No, its just that you and Chouji are lucky. Your clans are really important, unlike mine with about two members being my father and I. I only wish that we had a place like yours. Mine is just, average." Ino unfocused her eyes from him, staring out to the Hokage Mountain forlornly.

"Ino, your clan is important. There are only two members of our clan as well. And anyways, your clan makes more money than ours does with that flower shop of yours. Don't say stupid things like that," he said sternly.

"Sh-Shikamaru I—"

"Don't say anything."

She glared at him, confusing him and turned her body from him.

"Troublesome woman," the Nara muttered.

"Shut up." She said rigorously making him sigh in annoyance.

...

_Where am I supposed to go? Father is on a mission and I don't know where the hell I'm supposed to be._ Ino thought worrying vigorously. She sat out by a tree looking at the tents given by fellow villages. But she was casted on a mission for food when the time came to sign up for them. _Tch._

She gathered up large plant leaves from the forest and wove them together with long grass blades making a small blanket. She collected small round twigs and piled them as a pillow. She laid down on the cold ground with the leaves and twigs barely comforting her.

_Tap, tap_ she felt on her shoulder making her rise immediately with a kunai at the tapper's neck.

"Ino!" A scared Shikamaru responded. "What the hell are you doing? Watch it!"

"Oh Shikamaru!" Ino apologized putting her kunai down. "You _scared_ me!"

"_I _scared you?"

"Whatever. What are you doing here?" She said rolling her eyes.

"I was… around. I just came to ask you a question," he said looking into her turquoise orbs.

"Well, what is it?" She asked impatiently.

"Do you want to live at my house until yours is rebuilt or when you find somewhere to live? Your father could stay too. Although my parents are both on missions to other villages and won't come back for a few months, it'd just be me you and your father." He awaited a response looking curiously in the window of her soul.* "Well?"

"Yes! Yes I will! I definitely, definitely will!" Her eyes widened in joy, happily throwing her arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Well, I guess I deserved that." He said slowly putting his arms around her, less enthusiastic as her but equally willing. "I couldn't just let you freeze out here. Teammates help each other."

"I thought I'd tell you… my father is also out on a mission to the Sound village for information and won't be back for a long time. So, if it'll just be the two of us, it won't be a problem right?"

"Ugh. Troublesome. What a pain to have to be stuck with your loud mouth in the same building day and night," he groaned sarcastically.

Her hold on him tightened in a monster lock, growling. "_What_," her lock squeezed more, "did you say?"

He grinned and chuckled. He loved teasing her.

...

"No! This is my room! You're already wearing my clothes, you don't expect to take those, my food _and_ my room!" The lazy man protested crabbily.

"Yeah, and I'm without a home, so scoot over!" The blonde grinned victoriously. He moved over in defeat.

"Troublesome woman."

They both settled down under the sheets on the big soft bed and looked at each other grinning. The pouring moonlight made it easy to see her gorgeous features. Her eyes were warm meeting equally to her inviting smile. His face was hidden in the accentuating shadows. He could feel his heart thumping for some reason._ What is this? This isn't the first time this has happened. We've shared a bed before. What a drag._

"Thank you… Shikamaru," she said affectionately hugging the pineapple headed man. Her face heated but was concealed beside his head. Her heart was a pitter-patter, for an unfathomable cause. His heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah, yeah… you troublesome woman." He repeated, chucking lowly making her laugh as well.

"Lazy ass," she snickered.

They'd have been given away if they could feel the frequency of their synchronized beating chests…

* * *

***I've been told that the "window to the soul" are the eyes. just clearin' it up! ^^**

Yes, I am back, the day after my late 14th birthday. Yes, I am so young. With an itchy thumb.

I superly hope you enjoyed, and there's more where that came from! You'z just gotta give me time!

Also, this seems really short compared to my usual 2,000 word length. Well, I'm satisfied with this, and like to _continue_ being satisfied ^_^ I'm coming out with more projects, so be on the look out. :)

Jane, and please review! :heart:


	3. Shifts

The morning after, the Nara awoke to an empty space. It wasn't a dream that she was there. He sat up on the mattress rubbing his eyes. Yawning, he looked around the room, it was different somehow. He stepped from the bedroom to see a lovely female poking at a plate of food.

"Morning Shikamaru," she smiled. "Hope you don't mind that I, snooped around. I was kind of hungry."

"Uh, no. That's okay. Do what you want."

She smiled largely, the words coming out very fast as though they were one word. "Oh, I hope you don't mind that I cleaned up around here! I just _moved_ some things and organized _some_ stuff! No big deal~!"

He blinked at her curiously. "Alright," was all he said.

—

Villagers had made little money by selling necessities like wood, fruits, vegetables and water. There was one particular stand that Ino took a while visiting. Having all of her changes of clothes absolutely incinerated, she'd worn Shikamaru's clothes to bed. As annoying as waiting for he to shop was, it was even _more_ annoying for her to wear his clothes. Her arms were piled in different colored fabric. Only one thing bugged Shikamaru, but his curiosity led to the inevitable conclusion; _She's making me pay for it…_

_All_ of those clothes seemed scarily expensive and there was an awful large pile that continued to grow. He grabbed her wrist and said into her ear, "I know what you're doing, so stop. I am _not_ buying you all of this Ino. You'd better put half of this back."

"Oh but Shikamaru!" She pouted, "These suit me much better than your clothes do! Besides, what will the village think if they see us together and see me coming out of _your_ house with _your_ clothes on?"

"They can say whatever they please. Just get three changes of clothes. You're not emptying my wallet." He replied. _She has a point, I can't take that reputation, _he agreed in his head.

You're no fun Shikamaru," Ino said poking out her tongue. As he said, she carefully selected articles of clothing, making sure that everything fit, looked good and wasn't expensive. Shikamaru paid the woman at the stand and she handed Ino her bags that had her clothes. They walked in silence for several minutes. Growing tired of this, Shikamaru broke it.

"You're not even going to thank me for all that I got you you troublesome woman?"

"No. You didn't get me all I wanted you lazy ass."

"Troublesome," he said rolling his eyes.

She glared at him.

"Learn to be more appreciative Ino." He said a little insolently with still the playful manner in his voice.

"Whatever. Learn to not be such a tightwad, ass." She said rudely. He grabbed her by the arm.

"Ino, why are you being such a brat? Just because I didn't buy you all those clothes, doesn't mean you need to be all pissed about it!"

"Just shut up Shikamaru! Shut up shut up, _shut up!_" She yelled grabbing free from his grasp

"Stop being a brat. It's not that big of a deal!"

"I just... I want to be left alone. And alone means _without_ you!" She quickly disappeared; her speed was incredibly, but he was faster. He quickly caught up with her and grabbed her by her thin body.

"Calm down Ino," he soothed. "Tell me what's wrong. You know you can tell me. You know you can tell me anything."

"Shikamaru..." she gasped. She hesitated from saying anything. Her heart was slow and caught in her mouth. She looked away from him. "Yo- you wouldn't understand."

"_Please,"_ he said sarcastically. "Just tell me. As I said, you can tell me anything."

"Fine." She caved. "I just feel lonely and just... horrible. My house was demolished, all my things are gone and my father was drafted for an extremely long mission _and_ there is the chance that he could be killed." She paused, a tear brimming from her blue eye. "Shopping just reminded me of days with my father. The only upside to all of this, was that I go to live with you."

His eyes widened a little at that last part. He collected himself. "I guess I don't understand how you feel about your home, but I do understand that about your parents. Both of mine are gone. There's a reason for everything, and something good is going to happen in spite of your father's absence. I'm hoping that great things will come from Asuma's death. I'm still waiting. And so you shouldn't worry either."

"Asuma-sensei..." she whispered, the tear rolling down her cheek."I miss him."

"We all do. But we have to grow up and move on. Right Ino?" he asked and wiped her tear away with his index finger.

She smiled. "When did you become so stupidly mature Shikamaru?"

He smiled as well and extended his hand to hers.

—

"Where have you been? You've been gone for hours."

"Sorry! I was just... out. With Team Eight." she said, cutely biting her bottom lip. Her sentence seemed rather off.

"Troublesome," he said on cue.

She walked into the other room and changed her clothes into her new pajamas. She brushed her teeth and hair, then crawled into the bed next to the lazy man. Her eyes were closed. He opened his mouth, "You're lying. Who were you with?"

"What? I'm not _lying_! How dare you!" she protested with anger.

"You might have been with Team Eight, but which member?"

"Hinata"

"Try again."

"Shut up! My life has nothing to do with yours! So just leave me alone!"

"Whatever Ino," he said lastly getting out of the room through the window. He jumped to the roof laying down. Even though looking at the stars wasn't as fun as watching clouds, it was still relaxing. He had more time to think up here. There wasn't any stress or tension.

Ino was really being troublesome. Just going from mood to mood to mood. But she always ended up angry. It took lots of patience to clear it up. She was being a real immature little girl. Maybe her destroyed home really messed her up. She wasn't _this_ bad after the Orochimaru invasion. But this time, there really _was_ nothing left. Just a gaping hole.

He couldn't exactly _blame _her for being upset, but she could at least spare h is feelings. He's known her since they were born, and she's never been this cruel. He also really wanted to know who the crap she was with. He knew it wasn't with Hinata. She'd told him that she was too quiet for her taste. Shikamaru had never known Ino to be a liar, but he knew her well enough to not share the details. If she _were_ with Team Eight, then she'd probably be with one of the males. She thought Shino was creepy, so it wasn't him. _Kiba_ he thought. He seemed like someone she'd go for. _Troublesome._

This was just going to cause problems to live with her for the next few moths, or even _years._ Her in a relationship was only going to make her moods even worse. And _Kiba_ of all people. Shikamaru thought that Ino went for clean, pretty boys like Sai and Sasuke, not rugged, _wild_ ones. How unsettling. Living with a woman was hard. Especially a troublesome someone as Ino herself.

Shikamaru then heard a rustling noise and the movement of shingles on his roof. A doe-eyed blonde curled up next to him. She didn't meet his eyes as she pouted, "Sorry I lied. And for being a brat."

"Troublesome," he merely muttered. She accepted it as him forgiving her. "How was your time with Kiba?"

Her cheeks reddened, her blue eyes widened as she spoke, "Oh, how did you know?"

"It's not that hard to figure you out," he lied. She could just be simply impossible sometimes.

"Oh. Well, since you asked," she said perking back up again. "Me and Kiba were just having a lovely time sitting and laughing and..."

He pretended to listen. Or rather he pretended to pretend to listen. He was actually listening very intently. This subject of her relationship with Kiba just sparked his interest for some reason.

"Are you listening Shikamaru?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah." he said nonchalantly.

"Kiba asked me out! I told him I'd think about it! What should I say?"

He didn't know what to say at first. "I'm not the right person you should ask about this kind of thing." He was annoyed for some reason.

"Hey, what's gotten into you? Why are you so mad all of a sudden? Are you tired?"

"Yeah, forget it. I'm tired. Let's go to sleep." He got up and slid into the house as Ino followed silently after him. They both laid down on the mattress.

"Shikamaru, you're not mad because I've been a little... moody lately, right?" Ino asked innocently.

"I'm just tired. Good night Ino," he said facing away from her.

She knew something was up. And she was going to find out one way or another.

* * *

**Ino has Kiba now, what do you think? I thought he was appropriate. :)  
**

**So chapter three as I promised, but a tad delayed. **

**I'm coming out with a few one-shots. Both ShikaIno and SasuIno, so look out for that! I'm thinking of a brand new ShikaIno one-shot with a tad of lemon-drops. (I'm just going to _imply _it.) Please give me ideas for that please! I'm not gone _yet!_**

**Love always, Toushi. PS. Don't forget to review!  
**


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